Omaha daily bee., 1887-05-31

lNliN sui BllStN III L IONib Nfii O'N NAAN
names of some OF our patients. They
are great people in the metropolis as soon
as they leave our care"
Why do they come here if they can
afford TO 20 to private asyums|' rashly
asked the reporter.
why" shrieked the onc.leggcd man
and the wmte.haired man in chorus,
why, because the treatments better,
that's why. Yes, SIR" went on the old
man, the pride Of the artist flushing his
wrinkled face little, I'VE give better
treatment than any Turkish bath or any
other soaking out establishment i'll New
York. We have had more to do lately
than any of them, too. Turkish baths for
soaking out intoxicated gentlemen are
not As popular now as they used to be.
People would rather come here to the
hospital and be under the care of ply
sicians. There is no danger of suffering
from the carelessness of attendants in the
cooling-oif room at a hospital. Besides,
you save lot of publicity. You don't
know who may find out you've been to n
batn house to be soaked out, while at u
hospital, you know, there are thousands
of things you can be treated for besides
acute inebriety; sce?'
Perhaps the fact that the hospital is
free and the bath isn't has something to
do with it?" suggested the reporter.
TIE "sOAKING-oUT" PROCESS.
Not much. Our tirst-ciass customers
don't care a rap about that. They could
go wherever they wanted to. After
they've been here once they are pretty
sure to give orders to be taken here
again if they need anything of the kind.
En-, Ricketts|' with a punch in the ribs
of the one-legged man.
You bet,' said Ricketts,. expressively.
"Ilow long does it take for a man to
soak out, as you call it, under the hos
pital practice?'
'Well, you'd be surprised to see how
much difference there is in that. Some
confirmed old tanks that are chuck full
of liquor will be out rs clipper as larks
IN three or four DAYS. On the other
hand, some young fellows, who have only
been in the business few years, won't
get out in as many weeks. 1t all depends
on the capacity of the system to absorb
rum. The first thing we do is to get the
man quieted down until the worst effects
of the alcohol have a chance to pass off.
Then we drive the stuff out of his SYSTEM
and tone his brokcn-down stomach up.
We have to put the belt on and tie them
down to the beds when they are in a con-
dition to tear things. That only lasts a
few hours. When they get convalcscent
they can go anywhere they please about
the ward.
"Do you give them liquor when they
are raving for it?'
Sometimes we have to, but we never do
if any substitute will do any good. We
can generally get along with hyperder-
mIc injections and bromide, without
using any alcohol"
"Corrigan, old man, broke in the one
legged man at this point, why wouldn t
nice, quiet, hlgh-toned place for gentle
men to sober off in the proper way be Il
| good thing? You could command all the
best custom, and l could take the pro-
| ceeds. i'll tell you what III do.
But he didn't A little electric signal
| bell near the door rang sharply just then,
| and the one-legged man stumped rapidly
| away. There had been another rattling
| in the street moment before, followed
| by the familiar sound of an ambulance
| gong.
The reporter went after the one legged
| man as rapidly as he could, ana when he
| got back to the desk by the basement
| door the attendants were just carrying
| into the big elevator n bundle of manned
| and bleeding flesh, out of which looked a
| white and ghastly face.
Run over by a beer wagon--cmer-
| gency ward said the one-leggcd man
without looking up from his book. The
sun was shining brightly now. The one
legged man turned page in his new
book, and another day of gnastly expert.
| ence began at Bellevue hospital.